The anterior temporo-insular cortex in the macaque consists of the highest-order sensory processing stations for all the sensory modalities. We have proposed that this cortex contains the stored representations of stimuli to which the organism has been exposed. The storage is the result of activation by anterior temporo-insular neurons of a limbo-thalamic pathway, which actually consists of two parallel pathways, one invovling the amygdala and the magnocellular portion of nucleus medialis dorsalis, and the other involving the hippocampus and the anterior thalamic nuclei. Recognition memory occurs when the stored representation of a past stimulus is reactivated by a current stimulus, and associative memory occurs when that stored representation is linked to the stored representation of another stimulus or another event, such as a location, an emotion, or a motor act. These various types of memory can be distinguished from habits, which appear to be independent of the limbo-thalamic system.